Join Me?
by Em Pataki
Summary: After seeing tickets to Wrestlemania are sold out, Helga doesn't see how accompanying Arnold on his visit to see Arnie could be any worse. Rated T for mild romance scenes.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this idea pertains somewhat to one that came from Madfantic. He suggested extending the episode 'Weird Cousin.'**

 **I switched it around a bit, but thanks to him, I was able to come up with a new story idea. I hope you all like it. Please review!**

 **Thank you Madfantic for the advice :)**

Chapter 1: An Invitation

 _P.S. 118_

The students were thrilled, not just because it was Friday, but because an exciting event would be taking place the next day. Exciting to some that is…

Arnold turned in his desk when the last bell rang to see his girlfriend putting away her things. "So, you ready to get the tickets?"

Helga stood with a pessimistic expression, knowing how slim the chances of any remaining tickets to her favorite event would be the day before it took place.

"Pttss...you mean, ready to waist twenty minutes of our lives standing in line, only to hear the words 'We're Sold Out." the hopeless pre-teen scoffed.

Arnold took her hand to lead her out the classroom door as he encouragingly added "There's still a chance Helga. Besides, it was a busy week for us. Studying for the math test, putting together the history project, writing our poems for the English assignment. We didn't have time to wait in line for anything."

"No arguments there." Gerald agreed, following behind his friends.

Phoebe took notice of the somber expression her friend was carrying. Not many positive things took place in Helga's life. Disappointment was a factor she had trained herself to get used to. It was still nice every now and then to be treated to something.

"Arnold's correct Helga. Not to mention, if you are unable to acquire tickets to the event, you still have the option of sharing a lovely evening at home together, watching the event."

Gerald lifted an eyebrow at his girlfriend's explanation and said "Lovely evening watching wrestling? Talk about an oxymoron."

As the kids were making their way down the hall, Helga was knocked over by a careless classmate.

"Alright! I got it! Yes!"

Arnold watched to see his girlfriend hit her head against the locker after being shoved aside by Harold. While he and the rest of the group stood watching the husky boy gloat over catching the football in the hallway, Helga stood to scowl "Hey! What do you think you're doing Pinkboy?!"

Returning the scowl, Harold glared at the finger being pointed at him and snapped "I was catching the ball? What was I supposed to do, let it pass me?"

Glaring at the density (yet not surprised) by their classmate, Gerald added "Or just wait until you're in an outside area where activities such as that are meant to take place."

Knowing they weren't going to shake hands and easily disregard the situation, Arnold placed a hand on Helga's shoulder and said "Come on. Let's go get the tickets while we still can."

After watching Harold take off in the opposite direction of their friends, Gerald turned to Phoebe and said "Imagine a wrestling match between those two."

 _Stadium_

Arnold held Helga's hand down the sidewalk, anxious to get the tickets. While he saw the scowl from the school's incident hadn't left her face, he was sure the sight of the tickets would take care of that problem.

As they approached the booth, Arnold smiled and eagerly said "Look, no line! This should be easy."

Helga rolled her eyes at his optimism, refraining from saying what that obviously meant.

The two approached the both as Arnold said to the stand leader "Hi. We'd like two tickets for Wrestlemania tomorrow."

The cashier burst into laughter at the thought of anyone being brave enough to assume there would still be tickets for the event, one day before it took place.

Shrugging his shoulders at the reaction, Arnold said "I don't get it? What's so funny?"

After shaking her head, the cashier replied "Kid. This is the event of the year! Haystack Calhoun is battling The Avenger! You seriously believe there are still tickets available?!"

While Arnold stood shrugging his shoulders, not knowing how she could blame them for trying, Helga turned and smirked "Let's beat it. If we're lucky, she'll be Calhoun's next victim."

 _The Boarding House_

"HE-YAW!"

"Pookie, enough with the karate. It's bad enough you make dinners with stomach disturbing fruit every other night. We don't need a crazy act to go along with it." Phil informed her.

Taking no consideration of what her husband said, Pookie continued to chop the watermelon until she felt there was enough to make a full meal for the family.

"Okay then. Bye."

Phil turned his head to see Stella set down the phone after a long conversation. The sweet lady approached the table to say "My brother is anxious to see us again!"

Phil's eyes widened, as he sat still, not caring about the watermelon his wife had just splattered him with.

Miles, who had heard the end of the conversation from the hallway, approached the kitchen and said "That's uhhh nice sweetie. They're not coming to town are they?"

"If so, I'm leaving." Phil muttered, not wanting to be anywhere near Stella's eccentric relatives.

The caring lady took a seat at the table and explained "Well, we're all invited to spend the weekend at their farm. I told my brother it was too short notice for us all to head over there."

"Smart thinking!" the elderly man praised his daughter in law.

Listening in on the conversation, Pookie then turned away from the meal to suggest "We could ask lady Eleanor to run the White House while we visit the troubled area."

"Any area is troubled as long as you're in it." Phil glared, not appreciating his wife's enthusiasm towards the idea of visiting the farm.

"Mom, I don't think leaving Helga and Arnold to run things here would be any more fair than it would responsible." Miles shook his head, wondering how long she had stayed normal after he and Stella left for the jungle.

"Actually, Arnold is who they're really anxious to see. My brother said Arnie's been anxious to see Arnold and Helga since his last trip here." Stella explained.

Miles gave a perplexed look asking "When did he meet Helga?"

"The little weirdo stole shortman's last crush when he was here. The cranky girl with the big pink bow and the one eyebrow took that as her chance to get Arnold's attention. Ho boy did her plan backfire! The freak followed Arnold home that night rambling nonstop about wanting to go out with her." Phil explained.

Getting her facts straight, Stella said "So, Arnie has feelings for Helga?"

"That or he was just sick of reading the ingredients on all Pookie's food packages out loud to himself."Phil assumed.

After a moment of silence, the group heard the front door opening, and the parade of pets pouring out the door.

Arnold and Helga entered the kitchen to find his family gathered together. "Hey everyone."

"Hey there shortman! How goes it?" Phil asked, not wanting to reveal the news about his creepy cousin.

"Not bad."

Stella looked at the somber expression Helga was wearing and asked "Is everything alright sweetie?"

Crossing her arms, looking away from the group, Helga sighed "Just peachy."

Arnold filled the family in on the details Helga didn't care to explain. "Tickets to Wrestlemania tomorrow are sold out. We would have gone earlier this week to buy the tickets, but we had so many things to do for school."

"That was very responsible son." Miles smiled, hoping to make Helga feel better as well.

"If she thinks not going to a sport event is bad, wait 'til she hears the news _we_ just got!" Phil exclaimed, not caring to help ease the anxiety of the situation.

"What is it?" Arnold wondered.

Miles looked at his worried son and explained "Your uncle Jason just called son. He and Arnie want you and Helga to come visit them at the farm this weekend."

Helga uncrossed her arms and slowly turned to meet the innocent man's eyes as she said "Excuse me?"

"Arnie was sad he didn't get to spend more time with the two of you during his last visit." Stella explained, after the conversation with her brother.

Arnold turned to see the disgruntled look his girlfriend was wearing. While no one enjoyed being around Arnie, Helga was the easiest one to irritate.

The blonde boy began to rub the back of his neck as his eyes wandered from his dissatisfied girlfriend to his hopeful family. "Ummm maybe I could visit him another time."

"Sure shortman. Then you can spend the weekend listening to your weirdo cousin snort 'Where's your cranky friend with the big pink bow and one eyebrow?' hehe."

Everyone turned to glare at the chuckling old man as Miles sighed "Dad…"

"I'll think about it. Let's go upstairs Helga." Arnold insisted, leading her upstairs towards the attic.

 _Arnold's Room_

The two discouraged pre-teens took a seat together on Arnold's bed. First Helga was faced with the disappointing news of missing out on her favorite sporting event. Now Arnold was given the dilemma of who to let down; Helga by leaving her that weekend with nothing to do, or Arnie by turning down the invitation. While he had the option of inviting Helga on the trip, he wasn't looking to make her weekend worse.

"Well, I'm sorry about the tickets." the sweet boy said, placing a hand on his troubled friend's.

Helga rolled her eyes at his guilty conscience and smirked "Pttss...I think _you're_ the one who got screwed over. A weekend spent with Mr. Snorts-A-Lot. Talk about a rough match!"

Arnold began to rub his girlfriend's hand, wishing there was something he could do to make it up to her. Even if he turned down the idea of visiting Arnie, there wasn't anything fun to do around there.

"I know you'll think I'm crazy for this, but _would_ you want to come on the trip with me? It'll be something new to do."

Helga cocked her brow, not knowing what he could find to be exciting about the idea of visiting a farm. "Arnold, he lives on a farm. Why not just kill the day taking a trip to the zoo?"

Feeling guilty for what he was about to do, the anxious boy replied "I know it doesn't sound like fun, but it would be nice to have someone normal there with me."

As if his guilt was becoming contagious, Helga stood from the bed and said "Fine, but if he lays a finger on me, your exciting event for the weekend will be a boxing match."

"Whatever you say Helga."

Arnold stood from the bed to kiss his girlfriend good night. Holding her sweet face in his hands, his mind went back to the last time Arnie visited them. All those flirting techniques Helga suggested seemed like torture at the time. Now the idea of spending too much time away from her, deprived of the chance to do anything like that, was a torturous thought itself.

After slowly releasing her lips to look at the dazed expression his presence always brought to her, the blonde boy added "I'll meet you at your place tomorrow. We can take the afternoon bus, that way half the weekend will be over by the time we make it to his place."

"Sound good to me football head."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: This Looks Bad

 _Bus Stop_

Helga was approaching the bus stop, when she saw Arnold already there waiting. A smile formed on her face as she gazed at him innocently standing there. So what if they were about to spend their weekend in an eventless atmosphere? How could anything be boring if she was doing it with him?

Arnold held out his hand for his girlfriend as he listened to her say "Hey football head, how's it going?"

"Not bad. The bus should be here soon. It only takes about an hour to get there."

"Uh huh. So, have you ever actually visited him, or is he always the one to grace you with _his_ presence?"

Arnold began to rub his neck as he thought about how much more often Arnie came to visit him. He couldn't blame his cousin. No matter what his plans were for Helga, there really wasn't much to do where Arnie lived.

"I've been there once or twice."

Helga's eyes widened at her blushing boyfriend as a memory returned to her. "Oh yeah! You bailed on baseball practice to visit the loser. What the heck were you so happy to see us for the next day?"

Arnold was a bit embarrassed to reveal his personal information. Before coming up with a logical explanation, the bus pulled up.

"Guess we can start our quest to see Sir Snorts A Lot." the blonde girl sighed, as she stepped onto the bus.

Arnold followed behind her, relieved at being excused from the idea of revealing what had been on his mind the morning he ran onto the field in his pajamas to hug all of his friends.

The happy couple took a seat on the back of the bus. As Helga sat with her head propped in her hand, leaning against the window, patiently awaiting to see what the weekend had in store for her, Arnold turned to ask "So what exactly did Arnie say to you?"

The curious girl lifted her head from her hand as she turned to cock her brow at her boyfriend. Staring at him questionably, she listened to him continue "I...I mean the last time he was at school with us, and he said he wanted to talk to you alone."

Shaking her head at the memory, Helga explained "Just that a loser like him thought he could turn someone like me on with stories about lint and gum. Pttss...what an idiot."

Arnold blushed as he thought back to how hard Helga had tried to win him over. Even harder than he tried winning Lila. Arnie easily stepped in between the two of them, making her lose the slightest interest for Arnie. If the weekend didn't go well, Arnie could just drive Helga away from him. He was no more tolerable to her than Arnold was attractive to Lila.

"Well, you can't blame him for liking you."

Helga listened to the sweet boy say as she watched him take her hand in his. A dreamy look came to her face as a swoon released from her. Yes Arnie was annoying, but Arnold could brighten any dark spot she came across in her life.

Be it missing a big event or being dragged along to an unwanted one, Arnold's presence was always enough to make up for the troubles Helga experienced. If she could just swallow her pride and show him how grateful she was. She could only hope things wouldn't change between them, no matter how restricted she kept her feelings.

 _The Farm_

After an hour or so, the bus ride came to an end. Arnold led Helga off and down a quiet road that would lead to his cousin's.

The road was deserted as it was the last time he had visited. A disturbing feeling was entering Arnold, as he thought back to the nightmare he experienced the night before his trip. The only difference was, Arnie wasn't there waiting for him.

"Criminy. I see why your cousin thought of school with us as a vacation. This place is pathetic." Helga scoffed, looking at the plain, lonely road ahead of her.

"Yeah, I guess there really isn't much to do around here."

Helga listened to the guilty sigh release from her beloved as he stared sorrowfully at the ground. Guilt filled her heart, knowing all he wanted was to please her with an eventful weekend.

A smile came to her face as she took his hand and said "Eh, it beats listening to Olga brag about her latest accomplishments."

Once their long walk down the quiet road had ended, the young couple made it to Arnie's.

Helga looked at the tiny beaten down home. Worn out paint on the sides, missing pieces on the roof, and a huge willow tree draping over the front porch.

Along with the unpleasant features came one unexpected one. Helga cocked her brow as she set her things down and looked up at who appeared to be standing on the porch.

"Hi, this is my friend Helga." Arnold introduced her to the stranger in front of them.

Helga's eyes widened as she listened to him say _friend? What gives football head?_

The two pre-teens watched the pig tailed, red-head with white cowgirl boots head down the porch towards them. She held out her hand towards Arnold's and said "My name's Lulu. What's yours?"

Helga listened to the soft yet constant stutter release from her boyfriend as he searched for his words. "I'm Arn...Arnn..Arnold."

Lulu gave a flirtatious grin with her hands folded behind her back and said "You must be Arnie's cousin then. I'm his girlfriend. I'll help you get your things inside."

A sigh of relief left Helga after hearing this. Arnie and Lulu together meant she didn't have to worry about anyone trying to come between her and Arnold. They could sit back and _try_ to have some fun there that weekend.

Helga followed her boyfriend inside. As Arnold instantly followed Lulu to put their things away, as Helga stood still a moment, circling the room with her eyes. No tv to pass the time, no magazines by the couch. As she was wondering how the weekend would go, she heard a phlegmy snort from behind her. "Snort."

The pre-teen's curious eyes turned to annoyed ones, knowing what or _who_ that must be. She turned around to see her boyfriend's plain cousin waving as he said "Hey Helga."

Not caring to catch up with him, Helga headed towards the back of the house, where she saw Arnold getting things settled.

While Lulu may have said she was in a relationship, that didn't stop her from staring at Arnold with the same lovesick eyes he always managed to bring to Helga's face.

As Helga was tempted to break the two of them up, she heard from behind "Hey. You guys want to look at my lint collection?"

Helga pinched the bridge of her nose after glancing around the room to see jars filled with lint sitting all across the shelves.

"I'm ever so certain your friends didn't come to visit, just to look at your ever so boring lint." Lulu insisted.

Crossing her arms, leaning against the wall, Helga smirked "Pttss...ya got that right!"

"What should we do?" Arnold shrugged his shoulders, not having any ideas of his own.

"I'm ever so certain we should show your friend Helga all the exciting places around town." Lulu insisted.

 _Exciting? Oh man…_

Helga thought to herself, not expecting to be overjoyed at anything she was shown on their walk around town.

 _Lake_

"This is our ever so favorite swim hole we come to. I see two of our friends now; Stumpy and Fifi."

While Arnold found nothing strange about it, Helga gazed at the two pre-teens who seemed familiar, yet not so familiar.

"Gosh Fifi! I certainly am galvanized by your swimming techniques!"

Helga watched what appeared to be a slow witted version of her best friend scratch her head, as she replied "Galvanized? What in the heck's that mean Stumpy?"

"It means I'm impressed."

Helga stood feeling this was all too weird until she heard "Come sit with me Arnold. This is mine and Arnie's ever so favorite picnic spot!"

The blonde girl watched as her boyfriend didn't hesitate to follow the flirtatious girl over to the tree.

As she stood wondering where Arnold's feelings may be leaning, Helga sensed someone behind her.

The troubled girl clenched her fists as she listened to the snorting boy behind her ask "Want a piece of gum?"

 _Store_

After an hour spent of listening to Lulu go on about their _oh so exciting adventures_ at the swimming hole, she led the group into town.

"This is the store Arnie and I buy our oh so delicious apple butter at!" Lulu pointed.

Arnold began following her inside, as Helga watched the smile remaining on his face. After missing out on Wrestlemania, nothing seemed worse. Now here she was, feeling as though someone was wrestling her for Arnold's heart.

She wasn't the type to admit defeat or give into weakness however (no matter how hopeless a situation seemed). All she felt she could do was stand back and pray they'd be back in Hillwood before anything too crazy happened.

When the group entered the store, Arnold followed Lulu to find the apple butter. Helga was caught off guard when she noticed what seemed to be two more familiar faces.

"Plain gum?! That's all they have! That's insane!" Gerard snapped at the lack of variety the gumball machine had to offer.

Helga cocked her brow not only at the dense behavior, but how similar this town seemed to her.

"Quit over-reacting Gerard." Kid reminded him.

As Helga stood listening to the somewhat familiar faces, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Ready to go?"

A smile formed on her face as she watched her beloved holding the jar of apple butter. Even the slightest bit if attention from him was enough to make her heart flutter. Enough to keep that flame of hope lit inside her that nothing (and no one) could come between them.

"Sounds good Romeo."

Lulu walked beside Arnie as she said to him "Don't Arnold and Helga make just an ever so cute couple?"

Not taking his dazed eyes off Helga as she stood beside his cousin at the register, Arnie snorted and said "Yea."

 _Theater_

"Well, the most exciting thing in town is the theater." Lulu explained.

Helga took a look at the pictures of what was playing and said "Hey, you guys got Evil Twin here? Maybe this place isn't so lame after all."

"I'm ever so certain the movies are just wonderful! Would you like to see one?" Lulu asked hopefully.

Arnold looked back towards his girlfriend who shrugged her shoulders and said "Eh, why not?"

Lulu happily pulled Arnold inside the theater while Helga glared at the country girl's continuous need to separate her from her beloved.

"I'll go save us some seats Arnie. Why don't you grab us some snacks?" Lulu suggested.

The simple boy twitched his eyes at the suggestion as he turned to look at Helga and said "K. Helga, want to come with me?"

"When geese fly out of my nose." the annoyed girl smirked, as she turned to follow Arnold and Lulu towards the theater room.

The flustered girl entered the Evil Twin movie room to see Lulu already sitting with Arnold, telling him more interesting things about town.

"We have just ever so much fun here! This is an oh so special spot for our friend's to celebrate their birthdays and other special events."

While Helga was walking up the aisle steps, listening to what Lulu was telling her beloved, she heard another voice…

"Rhoda! Don't use your shirt as a napkin!"

"Why does it matter?" the sloppy girl insisted on knowing.

"You look like a giant slob! It's embarrassing to be seen with you." Harry crossed his arms, not knowing why he continued to hang out with her.

"How many times do I have to tell you Harry? I don't care what I look like?"

After another somewhat familiar experience seeing her friends from Hillwood, Helga finally made it to her seat.

There she sat beside Arnold, with Lulu on the other side of him. Arnold put his hand on Helga's and smiled at her, excited they had found something fun to do together there.

"Thanks for coming with me."

A heavy swoon escaped Helga. The sweet girl batted her lashes, unable to resist her beloved's sweet touch. "Anything for you my lov...I mean, whatever floats your boat."

Arnold wrapped his arm around Helga's shoulder, pulling her close to him. The two sat there waiting for the movie to begin until they heard Lulu say "We're up here Arnie!"

The simple boy took a seat beside Helga with his box of ice cream nuggets. An annoyed expression took place on Helga's face, sitting beside this eccentric boy, until she heard her boyfriend say "I'll be back. I have to use the restroom."

Helga leaned back in her seat with her arms crossed, ready and waiting for Arnie to make his next move. Why Lulu wasn't attempting to sit with her boyfriend was beyond her if she really wasn't trying to steal Arnold?

Arnie snorted as he held his box of cold treats towards Helga and asked "Want one?"

Shoving it away, Helga scoffed "No, I do not want to share your snort infested nuggets with you!"

The three sat quietly, waiting for the movie to start until Helga glanced over to see what was on the box of Arnie's ice cream nuggets.

"Hey? You like Wrestlemania?"

Arnie looked at the side of his treat box and softly said "Yeah. One of the wrestlers is from this town. I gave him a piece of my gum."

Arnold returned just as the lights dimmed for the movie. Making his way towards his seat, he saw everyone with their eyes on the screen except Helga. She was staring at the eccentric boy beside her, thinking maybe he wasn't as sad as he seemed.

 _Two Hours Later_

"That was an ever so wonderful movie!" Lulu smiled, as she stood from her seat.

Arnold stood to see Helga eyeing Arnie on his way down the aisle. "Ready to go Helga?"

The antsy girl quickly whipped her head towards her beloved and said "Huh? Oh yeah, let's go."

The group made it outside the theater. Arnold was prepared to lead Helga back towards his cousin's when they noticed Arnie had wandered off.

"Hey, where's Arnie, Lulu?"

The country girl smiled at her new friend and replied "I'm ever so certain he went to buy this week's copy of 'Poetry Forever'" from that magazine stand.

"Poetry forever?" Helga asked, not expecting something like that from such a lifeless boy.

Even Arnold found it to be a bit peculiar. It wasn't something Arnie had ever mentioned to him before.

"Oh look. Here he comes now." Lulu anxiously pointed.

The plain boy approached his friends with an item Helga appeared to be familiar with. "You read Emily Dickinson?"

Glancing up from the page, Arnie snorted "She's known for her unusual life and social seclusion."

Arnold watched the hypnotizing look on Helga's face as she listened to Arnie go on about the simplicity and seclusive lifestyle this author possessed.

The blonde boy glanced from his girlfriend to his eccentric cousin, feeling something strange occurring. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard "Let's go on a hayride!"

 _Hayride_

Rather than having a creepy boy shoving lint in her face, Helga was sitting beside who she now saw to be a somewhat intelligent boy reading a popular piece of literature.

"So how did you enjoy your tour of town Arnold?" Lulu asked the now worried boy.

Arnold continued to stare at Helga as he listened to the question. "Uhhh it was nice."

Arnie lifted his face from his magazine to see Helga hovering over his shoulder. The snort he released didn't seem to phase her whatsoever. The eccentric boy watched the fantasized expression his cousin's girlfriend was continuing to wear.

Helga didn't move as she noticed Arnie leaning further towards her.

Arnold sat from behind, feeling his heart pound at the sight of what was going on. Lulu was trying to turn Arnold's direction towards everything they were passing, while Helga and Arnie kept their full attention on one another.

Things did not look good...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: What Happened?

Arnold watched his cousin lean closer towards his girlfriend who was wearing the dazed expression she did whenever something (or someone) had her under their spell.

The last thing Arnold wanted was to tell Helga what to do (let alone accuse her of anything). She was his girlfriend though. Did he not have a right to interfere?

Just when the worried boy was reaching out his hand to set on Helga's shoulder, the pre-teens heard…

WHOA!

The group fell back in their seats and shook their heads.

"What happened?" Arnold asked Lulu.

"The driver had to halt the horse a moment, so the people crossing the road could pass us."

While the group sat there waiting for the ride to move again, Helga realized what had just happened. There Arnie was staring at her with hypnotizing eyes that she was less than an inch away from meeting. Had the horse not come to a firm stop, who knows where it may have led for them?

A chill ran through her thinking this disturbing thought. The worried girl shoved herself away from the aberrant boy and held onto her beloved.

A smile came to Arnold's face as he wrapped his arm around his girlfriend. Whatever had been going through their minds that moment, it clearly wasn't intentional.

The vexed yet emotional girl held onto her boyfriend the rest of the ride. Her eyes remaining shut, using him as all the comfort she needed until they at last heard…

RIDE STOPS HERE!

Helga began to blink and lifted her arms to stretch a moment, while Arnold followed Lulu out of the wagon.

Once she felt herself to be awake, Helga climbed out of the ride only to hear "Want a stick of gum?"

Arnold watched Helga shake her head at his hopeless cousin. They both knew nothing either of them said or did would change him. The optimistic boy began following Lulu back towards the house, expecting Helga to follow behind him.

Instead, the blonde, pigtailed girl stood annoyingly staring at what she was beginning to think of as _her_ stalker. Seeing him chew piece after piece, Helga at last said "What's your deal?"

Arnie blew an enormous bubble with the two or three pieces of gum he was chewing at the time, as he listened to Helga go on.

"I mean criminy! How the heck can you be interested in something so stupid?"

Arnie watched Helga begin to head off after venting part of her anger towards him. Before she could get out of hearing distance, the plain boy said "I don't just like to chew it."

The now razzled girl halted as she turned to cock her brow and asked "Pttss...what do you do? Eat it?"

Keeping a straight look on his face, Arnie approached who he hoped would someday be interested in him and said "I have something to show you."

Helga stepped back before Arnie could lay a hand on her and sneered "I don't want to see your stupid lint. Sheesh."

"Not that…"

 _Arnie's House_

Arnold followed behind Lulu to the front porch, only to notice Helga had fallen behind. He turned around to see in the distance his girlfriend anxiously yet angrily storming ahead of his cousin.

While it upset him to know Helga wasn't enjoying herself, he had never felt such relief when she grabbed hold of him on the hayride. It was shocking enough to see Lila had feelings for Arnie. He didn't need it happening with Helga too.

At last, the remaining two made it to the porch. "Thanks for showing us around Arnie. We had a good time."

Arnold took hold of his girlfriend's hand to lead her inside when he heard his cousin say "Helga and I aren't through yet."

Arnold quickly whipped his head from his cousin to his girlfriend. Arnie continued to give a blunt look while Helga placed her face in her hand. What would it take to send this unorthodox boy the message, she had no interest in him whatsoever?

"What do you mean you're not through yet?"

"I mean, I have something to show her. Come with me Helga." Arnie insisted, as he dragged her up the porch steps.

Arnold watched bewildered by what was going on. Normally Helga would threaten to punch someone's lights out if they went too far. Perhaps she was holding back just for him.

 _Arnie's Room_

The angry girl snatched her hand away from the weird boy and sneered "What the heck are we doing here? I know you like to chew things. I know you collect dirt. I know your after school reading assignments qualify you to be on the cooking network. What are we doing in here?"

"Follow me." the tedious boy snorted.

Helga rolled her eyes, not feeling she had much of a choice at that point. Whatever it took to get him away from her.

She followed the simple boy into his closet, worried he was trying to play seven minutes in heaven.

"No way am I stepping in there!"

Twitching his eyes slowly, Arnie replied "Okay, I'll just turn on the light."

After doing so, he pulled back the curtain behind his wardrobe to show Helga something, which made her heart pound.

"I like to chew gum to make shrines of the things I like; mainly you. Sometimes I write about you, then count the words in the poems I've written." Arnie explained.

Helga began to step away from the closet, not believing what she was seeing. Arnie turned out the light in there to approach his favorite girl. As he watched her trembling on the bed, he said "I have one more thing to show you."

 _Criminy! What now?_

Helga thought to herself. Sitting there, shaking on the bed, she watched the abnormal boy pull something out of his pocket.

"I keep your picture in my wallet. Lila let me cut it out of her yearbook when we were dating. There's something else. I love y…

RING...RING...RING…

Helga shot up from bed, sweating harder than she ever had before.

 _A dream! It was all a dream!_

The relieved girl ran downstairs in her purple nightgown to see Arnold talking to her sister.

"Hey Helga! How...WHOA!"

The grateful girl wrapped her arms tightly around her boyfriend, overjoyed to see him.

"I have a surprise for you!" Arnold said anxiously, after catching his breath from the tight hug.

 _Flashback_

Arnold was heading towards Helga's when he rounded the corner of the street, and bumped into a familiar face...WHOA!

"Sorry Harold." the blonde boy said, as he began to dust himself off.

"Hey! Why don't you watch where you're going?"

"I said I was sorry Harold." Arnold sighed. "So where are you off to? Play catch?" he couldn't help but guess, after the incident that occurred at school the previous day.

"Nah! My cousin's a security guard at Wrestlemania and needs my help with a few things. I'll be spending the day there."

 _End of Flashback_

"All you two have to do is apologize to each other, and he's willing to let us in!" Arnold said with eager eyes.

Helga cocked her brow at what seemed to easy and asked "What about your lame cousin? Isn't he expecting you?"

"If you want to go get changed, I'll call Arnie and let him know I need to reschedule."

"Fair enough. Sounds like you got the worse half of the deal." Helga leered, as she raced upstairs to change her clothes.

Olga watched Arnold head for the living room with his cell phone to make a quick call to his cousin.

"Who's Arnie?"

"Oh he's just a cousin of mine I see every once in awhile. He doesn't have a lot of friends, so I try to keep in touch with him." Arnold explained.

A sad expression formed on Olga's face after hearing the story. "Oh that poor boy! Should we invite him over for dinner?!"

Arnold anxiously backed away from his girlfriend's perky sibling and replied "Uhh no! That's really not necessary."

 _Fifteen Minutes Later_

 _Walk_

"Ready when you are football head!" Helga nudged his shoulder, anxious as could be.

"Great, I called Arnie to let him know I'd have to see him another time."

"Pttss...what'd he do? Snort?" Helga smirked.

"No, he didn't sound too upset. That reminds me though, why did you look so upset when you came running downstairs this morning?"

Helga began tugging at her collar as she watched her boyfriend stare, anxiously awaiting an answer. "Oh no reason. Just some psychotic dream is all hehe."

"About what?"

"Criminy! Can't you go a day without butting into other people's business?" Helga huffed, as Arnold began to take her hand and softly said "I think we both know I can't."

A dreamy smile formed on her face as she felt Arnold continuing to rub her hand. It amazed her she still feared the judgement of who everyone knew to be the most understanding boy in school.

After a moment of silence, Helga gulped and explained "It was just some dumb dream about visiting your cousin on the farm. All our friends were there with backwards personalities. Then the night ended with Taco head trying to come onto me."

Expecting some sort of strange reaction from him, Helga turned to see her boyfriend revealing a stunned look.

"Everything okay Romeo?"

Arnold began to rub his neck, feeling awkward about the information he was about to reveal. "Uhh yeah. It's just, I had a weird dream like that too, the last time I was going to visit him. All our friends were there, but had switched personalities. I wanted to date you, but you liked Arnie."

Helga halted at the sound of the dream and said "Excuse me?"

"I...I mean, you didn't actually do it. I woke up before anything serious could happen. Then I ran outside to make sure everything was back to normal."

"Pttss...you mean when you ran on the field in your teddy bear pajamas in front of the whole team. Sheesh."

"And then gave you a hug. I heard you swoon while I was holding onto you." Arnold winked, as he took back his girlfriend's hand.

Helga began to blush at the memory, along with the fact she may not have done the best job of hiding her emotions from everyone over the years.

"Yeah well, can you blame me?" she asked, thinking back to her dream. Arnold wasn't shocked by the idea of his cousin going after his girls. Why should Helga be shocked by the idea of the constant attention she paid towards Arnold (despite how negative it was) implied there was something special behind it.

 _Wrestlemania_

"Okay Harold, I'm running to the restroom. I'm trusting you with the keys until your friends get here." his cousin said.

"Thanks Jerry!"

Harold stood standing at the back door, feeling like an actual security guard.

 _That dumb aptitude test said I should be a woods person. I could be a security guard!_

The husky boy leaned against the building with the keys in his hands, fantasizing about the career he may one day have there until he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Huh? What?"

"Hey Harold!" Arnold waved to his classmate.

"Oh uhh hey Arnold. Guess you don't have to visit your dumb cousin after all? Haha!"

Arnold began to blush at the accusation, waiting to be let inside. "Uhh guess not. Anyway, I brought Helga, so you two could make up."

The angry pre-teens stared at one another; neither wanting to take the blame for what had happened. While Harold stood with his arms crossed and the keys in them, feeling he had all the power, Helga looked up from the ground to the building behind him. The same building he had gotten her into for free last time, despite the harsh attitude she had shown towards him on their field trip. He didn't have to show or invite her to it. He could have just walked off and left her after finally noticing where he was.

With that, Helga let out a heavy breath and said "Harold, I just want to say I'm sorry."

The hefty boy smiled at what appeared to be the now vulnerable girl. Knowing he too was at fault, Harold unlocked the door and said "Aww that's okay. I'll wait 'til I'm outside to throw the ball next time."

"Pttss...yeah, that'll be the day."

Harold opened the door for his friends who were expecting him to follow them to the stadium. "Aren't you coming Harold?" Arnold asked.

"Nah. Like I said, my cousin needs my help with a few things. Besides, I can't just leave the door unguarded."

"Maybe Pink boy's not so dense after all?" Helga said, following her boyfriend down the hall.

The applause of the crowd grew louder as the couple neared the end of the hallway. Arnold looked to see the anxious look in his girlfriend's eyes and said "I'm really glad we got to come."

Helga did her best to hold back her swoon before she replied "Yeah, if someone's gotta be next to me, listening to me go on about Haystack, I'm glad it's you."

The happy couple approached the end of the hallway. The loud applause of the crowd could be heard on the other side of the doors. Arnold took Helga's excited face in his hands and said "I think I've already seen a _haystack_ performance with you."

Helga could feel herself going weak at the knees as her beloved pulled her face close to meet his lips. While an excitingly brutal event was taking place on one side of the door, an utterly romantic one was occurring on the other half.

 _ **THE END**_

 _ **THANKS FOR READING**_

 _ **PLEASE REVIEW!**_


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